custodian-kernel 0.4.1

Kernel-enforced authority and spend platform for AI agents

Custodian Kernel

Custodian is a provider-neutral authority kernel for AI agents. It evaluates actions before execution, enforces approval and spend policy, records tamper-evident evidence, and includes the Paladin encrypted credential broker.

Install

Custodian Kernel 0.4.1 supports Linux and macOS with Python 3.11 through 3.13. Windows is not a supported 0.4.1 release platform; Windows support is planned for 0.4.2.

For Python environments that permit application installs:

python -m pip install custodian-kernel
custodian

Linux distributions that enforce PEP 668 reject even pip install --user. Download install-custodian.py from the source repository or GitHub release and run it there. It owns the runtime so users never activate or maintain a virtual environment:

python install-custodian.py
custodian

Running custodian opens the interactive menu. Useful checks:

custodian doctor
custodian health --format json
custodian console --once
custodian-verify
paladin --help

Optional integrations such as Custodian Codex Guard and Talaria are separate packages. Removing custodian-kernel does not remove ~/.custodian, ~/.paladin, or other user data.

Custodian is alpha software. It is defense in depth, not an operating-system sandbox. Review the threat-model boundaries in SECURITY.md before relying on it for consequential actions.

Preview or perform a data-preserving package uninstall:

custodian uninstall --dry-run
custodian uninstall --yes

For an installation created by install-custodian.py, use the same downloaded installer to remove its managed runtime and launchers while preserving data:

python install-custodian.py --uninstall --dry-run
python install-custodian.py --uninstall

• Documentation: https://getcustodian.xyz/docs
• Source: https://github.com/KeyArgo/custodian-kernel
• Package: https://pypi.org/project/custodian-kernel/
• Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md